It wasn’t the title defence he was looking for but a spectacular 72nd hole eagle gave Scott Hend a win of sorts at the Asian Tour’s Queen’s Cup.

The long hitting Queenslander was the major drawcard for the tournament he won by a shot last year but made the task a difficult one with two bad holes in the opening round.

A triple bogey seven at the 4^th and double bogey six at the 14^th undid much of the good work of his eight birdies on Thursday, his opening 71 leaving him well down the leaderboard.

However, the nine-time Asian Tour winner did claim top Australian honours with scores of 69-72-72 to be even par for the week and T34.

His eagle three at the par-5 18^th on Sunday leapfrogged Hend over Terry Pilkadaris who finished one shot further back and T36.

Pilkadaris also struggled in the opening round with a 3-over 74 but hit back with one of the best scores of the day Friday, a 5-under 66 that secured his place for the weekend.

He finished with 73-72 for a 1-over total, one shot better than Marcus Both who was the last of the five Australians in the field to make the cut.

Todd Sinnott and Scott Barr both missed the weekend’s play after second rounds of 77.